


Destiny's Pyrrhic Victory

by iEspeon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, RWBY
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-02-10 19:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18666517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iEspeon/pseuds/iEspeon
Summary: Pyrrha has no idea where she is or why she's there. But she does know that Remnant doesn't have these "Pokemon".





	1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One_ **

 

Despite the very soft, downy bed that she was starting to wake up on, Pyrrha groaned at the ache in her back. If she so much as breathed, every muscle in her back whined about it. So she let herself just focus on resting. Pyrrha felt something like a large dog snuggled up against her, their warmth seeping into her body and helping the pain start to fade. While she was there, she took stock of herself. Starting with how she got where she was.

 

 _I was... fighting that woman at the top of Beacon..._ Pyrrha groaned a bit as her back twinged with pain from the memory. She let her eyes finally drift open to stare at the moderately well-decorated ceiling above her. _My aura went down when I hit that pillar. Then I... I..._

 

Pyrrha felt shock and fear bolt through her. What was next? What was after hitting the wall? Waking up here, on this random bed that was... was...

 

Somewhere. Just from where she was laying, she could see that the room was decently sized. The small window showed endless ocean, indicating something of a room on a ship.

 

Pyrrha slowly sat up, and started looking around. And then she froze when she saw the creature laying against her side and looking up at her.

 

 _That_ is not a dog. It might have looked like one, but the rocks around its neck and the light brown colors proved that it wasn’t one.

 

It tilted its head at her and glanced down at her chest. Glancing down, Pyrrha realized rather belatedly, that her chest was bare except for some bandages. The bandages were rather selectively wrapped around her chest, missing most of her breasts.

 

“Eep!” Feeling her face start to flush, Pyrrha grabbed the bedsheets and pulled them up over herself.  
  
The creature seemed to understand what she was trying to do, and glanced away politely. While it wasn’t looking, she gave the bandages a more thorough examination. There was a little red seeping through, though it didn’t seem to be spreading. If anything it appeared dry, and poking it confirmed that observation. As she shuffled around, she felt something rubbing against the bedsheets from her ankle. It took only a quick look to find another bandage with a small stain of red on it.

 

 _I was injured? When? How?_ Pyrrha felt a frown mar her face as she thought back.

 

But she couldn’t remember anything beyond hitting the pillar and losing her aura. Whatever came after left wounds. Ones that if she were to peek under the bandages, she would undoubtedly find scars.

 

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when the door was starting to open. For a moment she wondered who it was.

 

Then she recalled her state of undress.

 

“Ah! W-Wait! D-Don’t come in - _oof!_ ”

 

Without warning, the creature had very forcibly shoved her down onto the bed, and draped itself over her chest. Its head was turned towards the door near the corner of the room, and the large fluffy white tail was wagging faster than before. Then a teenage boy, no older than Jaune or Ren was, stepped into the room. And very instantly noticed her flushed face and current state of being pinned to the bed by a dog-like creature.

 

“Oh you’re awake, that’s good.” He moved over to the dresser and started digging through a small plastic bag. He pulled out some clothes and threw them to her. Pyrrha managed to catch them despite the creature on top of her almost completely blocking her sight. “Put those on, they’re clean. There are shoes over there by the nightstand. C’mon Wafi, let’s leave her be to get dressed.”

 

The creature - _Wafi?_ \- whined a bit, but moved to get up. It licked Pyrrha’s face a couple times, leaving behind trails of dog saliva (a sensation Zwei had made her far, far too familiar with), then followed the teenage boy out the door. Thankfully he had been kind enough to look her way as he left.

 

Pyrrha still waited for another minute before she started getting up. To her pleasant surprise, the bandage on her right ankle wasn’t so tight that it restricted her movement. Plus the blood stains on all the bandages didn’t spread out any further. She took a moment to test her muscles, particularly her ankles and pectorals where the bandages were.

 

 _Alright. No noticeable pain._ She slowly moved her arms and legs as she moved to dress in the gift clothes. _Full joint movement... it seems that I’ve healed from whatever caused these wounds, and from that fight._

 

A frown marred her face again, for just a moment. Then she sighed and allowed the tension to flow out of her. It would undoubtedly return, but right now, she needed more information about where she was first.

 

As she started getting on the gift clothes, she noticed with a blush that they fit quite well. She made a mental note to ask the boy about it. When she was done, Pyrrha walked into the bathroom to check how she looked in the mirror.

 

It was a fairly basic outfit. Which, to be fair, made sense, given that she hadn’t been able to give her input. She was wearing a loose gold-colored mid-sleeve length shirt with red highlights, some casual jeans, loose tennis shoes and plain socks...

 

In essence, not her preferred style. Particularly because none of the clothes had any defensive capabilities. Beyond keeping her clothed, obviously.

 

 _Where is the armor?_ Pyrrha mused to herself, as she took several moments to straighten her hair and retie it into the usual ponytail.

 

It was a couple minutes later when she finally decided she was ready enough, and opened the door to the room, and -

 

“Watch your step!”

 

\- had to very quickly stumble to catch herself as she avoided stepping on the dog-like creature that was laying _directly in front of the door_.

 

Pyrrha watched as the creature’s tail started wagging, it stood up, and moved in front of her. She recognized that look in its eyes, just like the one from Zwei that begged for attention. So she knelt and started to pet it and scratch behind it behind the ears. The way it leaned into the attention was absolutely adorable. While she did, she looked at its owner (because she forgot to do it earlier, in her haste to cover herself).

 

He was shorter than her by several inches, first of all. Second, his left forearm was completely artificial. His hands were hidden inside his grey and dark blue cargo shorts, but the short sleeves of his dark grey shirt showed the forearm portion of the prosthetic very clearly.

 

Pyrrha had to force her eyes away from it and the questions it brought to mind ( _what caused that to happen at his age?_ ), and finished giving him a quick once-over. He wore dark grey boots with some faded orange-yellow shoelaces. The color reminded her of Yang (and that woman’s _horrible_ puns).

 

His short brown hair was somewhat messy, though combed back as if just to get it out of his eyes. It didn’t appear to go any lower than his shoulders, from what Pyrrha could see. His steel-grey/blue eyes seemed to hide a sharp intellect... and a very old, deep, _bitter_ sorrow.

 

The boy was standing nearby shaking his head as she pet the creature. He had a mildly amused look about him. “Sorry about Wafi, but he was worried about you.”

 

Pyrrha glanced back at it. It took the chance to lick her face. Despite her initial caution around it, she found herself giggling at how much it reminded her of Zwei.

 

“It’s alright,” she eventually said. Ignoring the creature’s - _Wafi’s_ whine as she stood back up, she held out her hand. “Pyrrha.”

 

The boy took it and gave her a respectably firm handshake. “Adalwolf. I’m sure you’re wondering where you are and all that.”

 

“I am, yes.”

 

“Well come on, let’s talk over some food. There’s a good place downstairs in the commons area. Maybe then you can tell me why you were floating around in the middle of the ocean unconscious.”

 

Pyrrha’s heart skipped a beat. _Unconscious? Middle of the ocean? How did I not get killed by any Grimm?! Or drown, for that matter?_

 

Adalwolf was already walking down the lavishly decorated hallway. Wafi was right beside him. Pyrrha had to jog to catch up. While they walked, she decided to look around and see what kind of self-defense weapons the people here carried.

 

Instead of weapons, however, one of the first things she saw as they started down the stairs in the center of the ship was even more jarring than the dog-like creature next to Adalwolf.

 

 _W-What the hell is that?!_ So great was her shock that she stopped dead in her tracks at the bottom of the stairs.

 

Walking in front of her was a woman with a very, very _odd_ creature on her shoulder. It was very pink. And avian. One cheerful-looking bright pink avian creature. It was holding onto the older woman’s shoulder with a pair of very small, very purple feet. Neither of them noticed Pyrrha’s stare as they passed her on their up the stairs. But she very much noticed the nice scent wafting from the bird as they walked on by.

 

Then Adalwolf was waving his hand in front of her face. “Hello? Earth to Pyrrha.” Wafi was looking a bit worried.

 

“Uh, I, uh... I’m sorry.”

 

He chuckled. “It’s fine. Not many people have seen a Spritzee before. C’mon, I got us a private spot.”

 

Pyrrha managed to nod. (She was certain her shock was very noticeable, but she valiantly ignored how dumb it no doubt made her look.) Despite being able to move beyond it, she very nearly froze again when she saw the restaurant. It wasn’t very busy, maybe only a third of the tables were in use. But each one had some kind of strange, distinctly not-Grimm, creature. There were even several walking between the tables and weaving around the three of them as Adalwolf led the way to a table that was, as he’d promised, in the back and fairly far away from everyone else. They both sat down, with Wafi laying down around Adalwolf’s feet.

 

“Purr.”

 

Pyrrha jumped in her seat. Glancing towards the voice, she saw a small grey feline... that was somehow on two feet. She will admit it; she stared. Particularly at the way its eyes were glowing a light blue, and two glasses of water with the same glow were set in front of them. Two menus followed shortly after.

 

Adalwolf took it in stride. “Thank you, Espurr. We’ll need a few moments, please.”

 

It nodded to him. Before it left, it brought over a small bowl of water for Wafi. There was a soft, grateful, bark from the canine-like creature. Only then did the feline walk away. Pyrrha jumped again when Adalwolf snapped his fingers in front of her face. Her attention snapped to his face, and she blushed a bit at the smirk on his face.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

He chuckled a bit. “Don’t be. This world must be incredibly jarring to you.”

 

 _Huh? This_ **_world_ ** _?_ “Wh-what do you mean by that? Isn’t...” Pyrrha stopped her oncoming rant with a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I’m... very confused.”

 

“I can tell.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small, silver rectangle with a yellow diamond in the center. “This is yours, yes?”

 

“My scroll!” Pyrrha was reaching for it even as she blurted out the words. Thankfully, Adalwolf just gave it over. “Where did you get it?”

 

“You had it on you when we found you,” he began. He paused to sip his water. “A piece of technology this world doesn’t have at all. Found on a woman lost in the middle of the ocean. Face down. Unconscious.”

 

“I... yes, you did mention that...”

 

Adalwolf leaned forward a bit. “And it is exceedingly strange for you to have been there.”

 

Pyrrha leaned back a bit. “H-How so?”

 

“You don’t have a Pokémon of your own. There were no visible trails indicating a plane or a fight of some kind. Or anything regarding transport via Pokemon, even teleportation.” His eyes narrowed a bit. “It’s almost as if you appeared out of thin air.”

 

Pyrrha frowned and looked down at her scroll. “I... I don’t know what happened.”

 

Thankfully he leaned back. “What do you remember?”

 

“I remember fighting a red-haired woman, older than me... I was losing.” Pyrrha belatedly realized just how bitter she felt about that. “Then I was slammed into the wall and... woke up here.”

 

“...I see.”

 

“Espurr?”

 

Pyrrha’s attention was immediately diverted at the feline’s sudden reappearance. Adalwolf glanced down at the menu before him, causing her to do the same. Unfortunately, she recognized almost nothing.

 

_Oran Salad? Tamato hot sauce? What...?_

 

So she just picked one of the first things that looked appealing. Something called Alolan Halibut. It sounded pretty familiar, too, thankfully. The feline used its telekinesis to write it all down dutifully in a little notebook, even getting Wafi’s order. Then it left with the menus. Adalwolf took a moment to sip his water some more, an act that Pyrrha copied. After she swallowed, she heaved a hefty sigh.

 

“I... I think you’re right. I think I am in a completely new world.” And wasn’t that strange to think about? An entirely new _world._ And then the worry and fear crashed into her all at once. “Oh dust, I need to get home. My friends are in trouble, they’re-”

 

“Stop.”

 

Somehow, Adalwolf’s stern voice cut right through her thoughts. She balked at the word he used, though.

 

He continued before she could, “You don’t even know where you _are_ . Let alone how you got here. Traversing space-time like that is very, very difficult; so let’s start with getting you used to _here_ and we can work on getting you home from there.”

 

Pyrrha looked down at her scroll again. She opened it. There, staring at her, was a photo of her team. Her _friends._

 

“I don’t know who’s waiting for you, and I don’t know how important they are to you. But you need to trust them to be alright for now. Trust them to be waiting for you. You do trust them, don’t you?”

 

 _With my life._ Pyrrha thought. She took another deep breath. It went in shakier than before, but it came out steadier than before, too. “...okay. I can... I can try.” She folded her scroll back up and pocketed it.

 

Espurr conveniently arrived with their food right then. Pyrrha realized as they started eating that she was really, ridiculously hungry. It helped that the food was _really_ good. A few minutes later, their plates were picked clean and collected by Espurr. Wafi was still taking his time enjoying his food.

 

“So.” Adalwolf began. “I noticed the look on your face everytime you see a Pokémon. Another strong hint you’ve no idea where you are, by the way.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Adalwolf rolled his eyes. “Stop apologizing so much.”

 

“Sor- er...”

 

He chuckled. “Wafi here is a Pokémon, too. Specifically, a Lycanroc.”

 

Pyrrha nodded along, even though they were words that didn’t make any sense to her. “So that means...?”

 

Adalwolf opened his mouth. Then he grunted as a larger man appeared behind him, slapped the back of his head, and leaned over him and into Pyrrha’s face.

 

“It means he’s a dumbass. Lycanroc’s a shit Pokémon.” He jerked a thumb out to point at himself. “If you're looking for a good Pokemon, then look no further. I've got a _real_ Pokémon for you to admire.”

 

Pyrrha frowned quite heavily at the way the man was acting. His shirt had a name on it in faded threads, labeling him as “Bask.” It was far, far too familiar to her. Behind him, there was a blue-skinned bipedal creature (no wait, they're called Pokemon). It's arms were crossed over a chest of admittedly rather impressive muscle. It had three beige-ish crests on it's head, looking almost like cornrows.

 

“My Machoke here's better than anything the kid's got.”

 

Adalwolf snorted, rolling his eyes. “Keep it in your pants, jerkoff.”

 

Pyrrha's eyes were narrowed. “If you don’t mind, we were in the middle of talking.”

 

The man chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind at all.” He moved to grab a seat, but stopped when Wafi growled. “Oi. Boy. Keep your pet under control.”

 

Adalwolf paused. Looked down at Wafi, who was mid-meal and growling. “Nah, he’s fine. It’s your fat ass that’s out of control, Bask.”

 

The man stopped. And slowly turned. “Mind your manners, brat.”

 

“Coming from the man interrupting our meal to brag about Pokèmon? Cute.”

 

Bask growled and turned to grab Adalwolf’s shirt. Pyrrha’s frown deepened. Then she found herself blinking, surprise coloring her features a bit as Bask was now gritting his teeth. Adalwolf just looked bored while holding Bask in a wristlock. If it weren’t for Pyrrha’s experience as a fighter herself, she might have missed the focused look in Adalwolf’s eyes, or the way he kept his muscles mildly tense, as if ready to do more. Machamp had uncrossed his arms and looked ready to strike.

 

“I’ve done my best to be patient with you the entire trip, Bask. Now _leave._ ” Adalwolf punctuated his words with letting go of Bask’s wrist.

 

Bask glared, cradling his wrist. Then he started storming off. Machamp took a moment to growl and crack his knuckles, though it left prematurely when Wafi growled even more loudly than before. They waited a few moments, then all three of them sighed in relief. Before either of them said anything, though, a woman that appeared to be in her thirties approached. She was wearing the restaurant's uniform, and her tag labeled her as both the manager, and Aubrey.

 

Aubrey put down a closed take-out box. “Thank you for handling that. I had security ready to go, but it’s good to see him getting his just desserts.”

 

Pyrrha was still frowning a bit, however. “Why hasn’t anything else been done?”  
  
Aubrey sighed. In that instant, she looked far older, far more tired. “Because it already has been. My bosses have had several talks with him already.” Aubrey took a deep breath and perked up. “But for doing your part, it’s all on the house as thanks.”

 

Aubrey gave a wink and waved as she left. Adalwolf reached for the box, looked in, and chuckled.

 

“What is it?”

 

“One of their display cakes.” He turned it around to show her. “They’re very, very good.”

 

Pyrrha would not deny the fact that her mouth started watering right away just from how good it looked. Adalwolf pulled a small receipt out from under the box. He chuckled as he read it. Pyrrha looked over at him. He turned it over, letting her see that it was a receipt. All it said was “Good People Discount - 100% Off”. Despite still being somewhat upset about the event, Pyrrha giggled at that.

 

Adalwolf had a small smile as he stood. “Well, that’s taken care of, then. Come on.”

 

Pyrrha gave a confused look to him, standing up and brushing a few crumbs off her borrowed shirt. A stray thought came to mind as he led her to...  where ever he was going.

 

“Uh. Did you see me with clothes when I was found?”  


“Yeah. Some of the housekeeping staff offered to help mend some damage they had, they should be back in the room when we go back.”

 

Pyrrha nodded slowly, getting rapidly distracted by the people walking around and under her. Adalwolf had led her to a balcony overlooking a large mall-like area. Dozens upon dozens upon _dozens_ of people milled about below her, surrounded by a good portion of the strange creatures. She was led to a small, quiet area with nobody around to watch the people below.

 

“I thought we could do some people watching for a bit.” He sat on a bench near the glass wall that served as the railing. “And some Pokemon watching. Get you a little more used to them being around.”

 

Pyrrha looked from him to the mall-like area below, then back again. After another moment of thought, she slowly sat down on the bench, watching everyone milling about below her. Wafi climbed onto the bench between them and laid his head on Pyrrha’s lap. And looked up at her with some puppy eyes. Adalwolf rolled his eyes. Pyrrha chuckled and started scratching and petting Wafi, much to his approval.

 

“He’s so spoiled these days.” Adalwolf mentioned. Wafi whined piteously, making him laugh. “Yes you are, don’t deny it.”

 

Pyrrha found herself laughing softly. “It’s fine. So, uh. They’re called... what again?”

 

“We call them Pokemon. As you can see, there are a lot of them around.”

 

She really could see that. Just looking towards downstairs, she saw so many different kinds. There were birds, canines like Wafi, felines... all of so many different shapes and sizes. And colors. Adalwolf started pointing and naming a few of them. A big, pink, egg-like one named Chancey; some kind of green canine called an Electrike; a small fox with multiple tails.

 

“Luckily most of the Pokemon say their names when they speak. Or at least that's what most humans hear.” Adalwolf was taking a break from pointing and naming.

 

Pyrrha frowned a bit. “But Wafi doesn’t.”

 

He shrugged. “He’s a canine. He howls. And whines when he doesn’t get petted enough, apparently.”

 

Wafi huffed at that, gave Adalwolf an affronted look, and just nuzzled into Pyrrha’s hand more. She rolled her eyes and resumed petting him again. Adalwolf reached over and scratched behind Wafi’s ears, earning him a pleased sound. After a few moments, he stood up and stretched.

 

“I have another idea for getting you a little more used to Pokemon. Why don’t you and Wafi take a walk around the shops?”

 

Pyrrha did her best to try not to wring her hands. The idea lit her nerves with worry about it. Wafi seemed to sense it and nuzzled into her side. Adalwolf didn’t seem to notice (or at least pretended not to).

 

“Um, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

 

“I trust Wafi to keep you safe.” Adalwolf dug into one of his pockets and pulled out his wallet.

 

Pyrrha blushed at that. “Thank you for the offer but you don’t need to do that.”

 

He paused and looked at her. An eyebrow slowly raised. “You have Poke to buy things with?”

 

“Well, no, but... you’ve been very kind to me already. It’s really not necessary to give me money.”

 

Adalwolf continued to give her that same look. Pyrrha fidgeted in her seat a bit. Then he shrugged. “Alright.”

 

She may, or may not, have been somewhat surprised by how easily he agreed to it. Some of the boys she’d met back home would have --

 

“Wafi.” Adalwolf had a little pouch on a necklace string. He was already tying it around Wafi’s neck. “The usual rules.”

 

Wafi gave him a soft _woof_ , licked Adalwolf’s hand, and watched as his trainer walked off. Then he turned and gently-ish nudged Pyrrha with his head.

 

“...there’s money in that pouch, isn’t there?” Wafi looked distinctly smug as he nodded. Pyrrha sighed and put her face in her hands.

 

She valiantly ignored the canine’s distinct sound of laughter as she stood up and headed towards the stairs to the lower level. On the first step, her nerves went taught as she was faced with so many strange creatures. She’d spent many years training to face the lethal, deadly, and sometimes _terrifying_ , Creatures of Grimm.

 

And yet somehow, a multitude of these strange creatures such were enough to put her adrenaline nearly on a hair-trigger. Wafi pressed against her side gently but firmly. Pyrrha gave him a soft smile and let him assist her down the steps.

 

Now that she was down among the crowd, Pyrrha felt her apprehension fade rather rapidly. Most of the creatures -- no, _Pokemon_ , weren’t hostile. Some of them seemed a bit more aggressive than others, but those ones seemed content to settle disputes with minor physical contests.

 

Wafi made her stop and watch a couple of humanoid Pokemon start arm wrestling over a small metal table. From the way the humans were cheering, one was a Machop and the other was a Tyrogue. Two humans in particular stood out, namely the ones closest to the Pokemon. Pyrrha watched as the two Pokemon were encouraged to do their best. After a few moments, the little blue Machop managed to smack Tyrogue’s hand into the table with a solid _crack_ resonating around the crowd.

 

The humans applauded the victory. They gave Tyrogue their condolences and congratulations for doing so well. Tyrogue appeared a bit annoyed by the loss, but shook Machop’s hand for the game anyway. It was at this point that Wafi guided Pyrrha away from the show. As they walked, though, Pyrrha’s gaze lingered on the crack that sat in the metal table.

 

At least until Wafi growled lightly and made her stop in place. In front of her was a somewhat seedy-looking man in a slightly worn-down white business suit. In spite of her desire to not judge by appearance, this man reminded her of Torchwick just a bit too much. Her eyes narrowed just a tad.

 

“How can I help you, sir?”

 

He wrung his hands a bit. “Hello, miss! I have a wondrous, magnificent Pokemon with me that I can’t take care of. And I can’t help but think that a lovely lady like you can take care of it.”

 

Pyrrha managed to keep from sighing out loud. Just a salesman trying to sell a pet -- er, Pokemon. In public. Something that was apparently a problem throughout two different worlds.

 

“Sorry, sir, but I --”

 

“Come, come, let me show you!”

 

The man started waving her towards a fish tank behind him. Pyrrha found herself stepping forward almost immediately. Wafi stayed close, his hackles still slightly raised. The man grabbed the black sheet on the tank and, with a slight flourish, yanked it off.

 

Inside was a moderately sized brown fish with blue fins, wide eyes, and wide lips. The water in the tank looked to be somewhat filthy, but the fish’s eyes focused in on her in an instant anyway. And even at this distance, Pyrrha could see the way some hope lit up its face.

 

“As you can see, miss, I can’t -”

 

“How much?”

 

The man’s mouth froze mid-word, making him look rather foolish and dumb. Wafi was giving Pyrrha a mildly confused look as well. But she was focused on the fish.

 

So she repeated herself. “How much?”

 

“I, er... 500 Poke.”

 

Pyrrha looked to Wafi. He may have been confused by her decision, but he still let her access the wallet-pouch around his neck. She was momentarily confused by how it was paper money instead of the card-like money Lien was, though she moved on fast.

 

A couple minutes later and Pyrrha was walking away with a large round ball in hand, Wafi giving her a mildly confused, and worried, look. She found herself constantly looking down at the Net Ball, as the man had called it. She was so focused on the item in her hand that she jumped when Adalwolf waved in her face. Looking rather sheepish about it, she looked up at him. He was wearing a knowing smirk again.

 

“Welcome back to the planet, Pyrrha. How was the moon?”

 

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. “It was in pieces as usual, thank you.”

 

“In pieces? Your moon in your world is broken?”

 

She sighed and rubbed her forehead at that. “Yes. I just... sorry.”

 

“It’s fine.” He pointed to the ball in her hand. “What have you got there? Did you actually buy a Pokemon?”

 

“I... I guess I did.”

 

Adalwolf looked about ready to comment on her choice of words, but from the way she was looking at the ball again, he refrained. “Well show me, then.”

 

“Uh, I don’t think I can show you here.”

 

Wafi barked softly. Adalwolf looked to him, then nodded in understanding. “A smaller aquatic Pokemon? Alright, there’s a clean pool this way.”

 

Pyrrha followed him along to an area on one of the aft decks of the cruise ship. There was, indeed, a decently-sized clean pool there. Labeled as specifically for Pokemon. She had to be given instructions on how to do it, which was a bit embarrassing given the looks she got from some passersby. Then her new Pokemon landed in the pool, and more than one passenger watching either laughed, choked on laughter, or had to smother their snickering.

 

Adalwolf notably didn’t react. “A Feebas? Where did you say you found this one?”

 

“A salesman approached me.”

 

“And you bought it because...?”

 

Pyrrha felt her hand reach up and grasp her arm. “I was reminded of... someone very important to me.”

 

“I see.” He paused for a moment. “Well. Come on, let’s go get Feebas properly registered to you.”

 

Pyrrha, once again, found herself following Adalwolf through the ship. This time, they ended up in a moderately-sized area with a big red Pokeball decorating the front. Inside, behind a large, curved and well-polished counter, was a woman in a nurse’s outfit. Next to her was a pink Pokemon with white feeler-like appendages from her ear. It, like the woman, was wearing a small, but adorable, nurse’s cap.

 

“Oh, hello! You seem to be feeling much better, Miss!”

 

Pyrrha nodded, smiling to them. “I am, thank you.”

 

“That’s good. We were worried when we found you in the ocean, though Mister Adalwolf was kind enough to help care for you.” She paused to bow a bit, and Pyrrha hastened to mirror it. “My name is Nurse Joy, and welcome to my Pokemon Center. Audino here is my assistant.”

 

Audino smiled brightly, bowed to them, and waved to Wafi when he said hi. After that rather pleasant meeting, it was made clear that she needed to register her Feebas to her, and to be registered as a trainer.

 

It took nearly an hour for the process to be completed. Another woman, introducing herself as Officer Jenny with her partner Growlithe, had gotten involved, too.

 

But in the process, Pyrrha had been given back her armor. Not her shield, as that had been missing when she was found. So despite the headache the paperwork had caused, it was quite beneficial. Also she’d learned that Feebas was female.

 

Then they were back at the little pool. Adalwolf and Pyrrha had commandeered some chairs near it. Wafi was lazing about in the sun, snoring quietly. And Feebas swam around the pool with more energy than a Pokemon her size should have been capable of having. During the registering process, Pyrrha had been given the option of giving Feebas a nickname, as many trainers were wont to do. But she had declined for now.

 

Instead, she focused on speaking with Adalwolf and learning as much as she could about this new world.

 

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Pyrrha felt far more confident about her situation as the cruise ship was about to dock into a place called Dahara City. From the way Adalwolf had described it, admittedly out of a guide book, it reminded her of her home, Argus of Mistral. A coastal city with plenty of people and life.

 

Then the captain announced that it was within sight. So she stepped out onto the deck to see it. Then she stopped and will admit that her jaw dropped a bit at what she saw.

 

Dahara City looked _massive_. There was an enormous tower with gold rings attached to the sides and the top, giving it a very attention-grabbing appearance. Which, obviously, worked. Adalwolf stepped up next to her and leaned over the railing.

 

“I always love seeing new places like this. It’s fantastic.”

 

Pyrrha gave a breathless chuckle. “It looks incredible. Is every place like this?”

 

“No. I won’t spoil them, though.”

 

“Thank you. Seeing this makes me excited to see how other cities will be.”

 

“...there’s also the fact that I’ve not been to any of them in this region.”

 

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. “So you couldn’t have spoiled them anyway.”

 

Adalwolf’s grin was wide and Wafi was huffing in laughter, too. Pyrrha had learned over the past few days that Wafi and Adalwolf were both brats that loved their pranks. The same way Yang and Nora had done all the time. Thinking of them made Pyrrha’s heart ache for them again. She turned away from him to hide the way her vision wavered.

 

Her hands went to the wine-red with silver highlights bag sitting at her right hip, just making sure it was still there. The strap held snugly around her waist, with another one across her chest to her opposite shoulder. Apparently bag-storage tech was highly advanced in this world, because her old armor fit into it quite easily. As had a bunch of some other stuff Adalwolf had bought.

 

Pyrrha glanced down at herself to make sure it all still looked nice. The light-grey elbow-length sleeved shirt still looked nice. She still had a soft-gold pack strapped to her thigh. The wine-red highlights helped make it standout from her light-beige khakis. She had finally managed to somewhat break in the new hiking boots. Under her waist pouch was her familiar red sash. The one she’d been given from her family before leaving for Beacon.

 

Pyrrha took a deep breath and pushed the tears back again. Adalwolf pulled her out of her thoughts when he tapped on her arm. Apparently while she was distracted the ship had reached their dock. Adalwolf checked to make sure his single-shoulder bag was secure. Then they were heading on down the gangway.

 

Almost immediately they stepped to the side of the exit. Pyrrha kept getting distracted by the sheer _variety_ of Pokemon.

 

 _And here I thought I’d gotten used to it,_ she mused.

 

Adalwolf was chuckling to himself about her expression again. She ignored him, even as she followed his lead through the streets and ogled the creatures. Birds of all sizes and colors sat and flew above her. Little yellow mouse-like creatures dashed through the streets, between their ankles and legs. Green goat-like creatures lay near the buildings, looking rather sleepy.

 

_It’s... it’s honestly quite beautiful and incredible. I just wish Jaune was here to see this..._

 

Pyrrha then gave a soft _oof_ as she ran into Adalwolf’s outstretched arm. Combat training kicked in instantly, and she took stock of the situation. Five men surrounded them. They all wore bright red suits, with red ties and red sunglasses. They had their Pokemon out, too. Pyrrha turned to be back-to-back to Adalwolf and prepared to face the men behind them.

 

Pyrrha couldn’t see it, but she was certain Adalwolf rolled his eyes as he spoke. “Couldn’t take that little hit to your cute little pride, Basky?”

 

Bask’s smirk went sharp. “I can’t wait to see how much better you two look half-dead and begging for mercy. Get ‘em boys.”

 

The canines in front of her were knocked aside when Wafi blurred into view, a line of white following him. The men ignored this and started moving forward. From her left came a jab. Far too wide. Pyrrha stepped forward into his guard, her hand grabbed his wrist, and with help from her aura and technique, she threw the man over her shoulder and into the ground. While he was in the middle of groaning from the pain, she turned to the other man.

 

Her leg snapped up and out. Her foot slammed into his chest and knocked him a step back. Pyrrha followed. She lashed out with her other leg, nailing him in the shin. He stumbled forward, hissing air. Then Pyrrha’s fist moved like lightning into his gut. The man collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. She turned to find the first man had, at some point, tried to stand. Then he had given up and just lay there.

 

Further forward, she saw Adalwolf. Of the three men he’d fought, only one of them was conscious. And none of them had avoided broken limbs. Machoke was busy being sat on by Wafi.

 

“Well, that was a good workout,” Adalwolf said calmly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be something similar to a scroll.

 

While he called the police and gave the relevant information, Pyrrha sighed. She really, _really_ hoped this wasn’t an indicator of how things were going to be in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New story from me. It would NOT leave me alone until I wrote it at least a little. Plus it has a hell of a challenge to come with it.  
> For my followers, yes, I am planning on my next chapter being for my MHA story.
> 
> Final Count: 6,138 words; 16 pages.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_ **

Adalwolf just barely managed to stifle another sigh. The officer was starting to look annoyed. Probably didn't help that he'd refused to give his surname.

 _I need to get rid of it._ He mused, reaching to his side to scratch behind Wafi's ears. He smiled at the pleased groan he got for it. _I'll work on that later. Current priority is to leave the city._

At last the officer was done questioning him and left. It looked like Pyrrha was still being talked to. Probably would be for another few minutes. One of the guys they’d knocked around glared over at him, even while cradling his broken arm. Adalwolf was not above flipping him off. 

Wafi huffed a chuckle. _“Having fun, Wolf?”_

“I am. How’d she do?”

 _“She’s good. And you were right, she’s got aura training.”_ Wafi frowned. _“Or at least I think it’s aura training. If it’s called that where she’s from... you know what, training. Let’s just call it training.”_

Adalwolf nodded and closed his eyes. It took a moment to activate, but soon he saw a faint blue glow through his eyelids. Except for the Pokemon, himself, and Pyrrha. Each of the Pokemon in sight had different colors, owing to their types. The Houndour had a mix of dark-grey and fiery-red; Wafi had a sort of brown color; and Pyrrha had softer shade of red. Her aura appeared to be held somewhat densely around her.

“Hmm.” Adalwolf opened his eyes. “She’s at least got the training to hold her aura, or whatever she calls it, close to her like I do. Any moves?”

_“I didn’t see any.”_

“I’ll ask later.”

Wafi nodded. _“Hopefully she can learn the translation matrix.”_

“We’ll have to wait and see.” He watched as the cops finally started leaving. “Oh she’s done at last. Took long enough.”

Pyrrha was on her way over. Adalwolf rolled his eyes as Wafi got up and came over, wagging his tail. He stood up and followed, chuckling. Wafi was more than happy to beg for - and receive - pets and ear scritches. 

“He is so spoiled with you.”

Pyrrha giggled. “Sorry.”

Wafi whined when Pyrrha stopped. _“Wooooolf! Don’t make her stop!”_

Adalwolf stoutly ignored him and started leading Pyrrha away from the scene. Stepping onto a main street was a very big difference from the alleyway. It was bustling and moving far more. The boys watched as Pyrrha’s shoulders first tensed, then slowly relaxed. From the way she glanced around, it seemed she was preparing to be swarmed. Adalwolf and Wafi shared a look and a shrug. There had been plenty of shopping done on the cruise ship already, including a map of the city, so they were able to more or less start making their way out of the city.

About halfway there, though, Pyrrha started to wring her hands. Wafi was the first to notice and got Adalwolf to stop. (Admittedly he was about half a block away by that point, but he came back.)

“Is something the matter?”

“Listen, Adalwolf, I, uh...” Pyrrha paused to steady her hands and take a deep breath. “It has been very kind of you to help me so much these past several days, but I don’t want to burden you any longer. So, um... I think we should go our separate ways.”

“Nope.”

From the way her jaw dropped open, his answer shocked her. “Uh... but -”

“Nope.”

Pyrrha gaped at him for a moment. Then she finally managed to ask, “Why not?”

“Where are you going to go?”

Pyrrha opened her mouth. Paused. Closed her mouth. Then repeated about three times. Until finally, she managed to ask: “...why?”

“Well there are several reasons.” Adalwolf resumed walking towards the edge of the city, Pyrrha following. “First, travelling is more fun with friends. Two, you’re still rather new to this world. No offense, but I don’t feel comfortable letting you wander this world in your case.”

Pyrrha sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“And finally... because I just want to.”

Wafi rolled his eyes. Pyrrha rolled her eyes. Adalwolf laughed.

“Fine. You win. Where do we go from here?”

Adalwolf dug into his pocket and pulled out a map, unfolded it, then held it out for them both to look over. “I was planning on heading towards Lumiose City. It’s the big one.” He pointed at the giant city in the middle of the map.

“What’s there?”

“Among other things, I remember hearing that there’s a Pokemon Professor there.” Adalwolf took out a guidebook from his pocket. The cruise ship staff had given them to everyone on their way out. It took him a moment to juggle both the map and the book, but he managed it. “Uh... yeah. Right here, says Professor Sycamore is there. Pokemon Professors have a lot of authority and knowledge. They can help us figure out how to get you home.”

“Hmm.” Pyrrha traced a finger from Dahara City directly north. “North towards... Ambrette Town? Is that what it says?”

“I was thinking of northeast along the river here, towards Camphrier Town. We can walk closer to the river and Feebas can swim next to us.”

“It runs into the mountains here.”

Adalwolf followed her finger. Squinted at the map. “When did those get there?”

Wafi gave his two Poke. _“About a bajillion years ago, dumbass.”_

"Shush, you. Fine, north towards Ambrette it is.”

“Alright. What can we expect on the way?”

“Some Pokemon. Water. The woods.” Adalwolf shrugged. “I dunno.”

There was another round of eyes rolling, but the little group finally got on their way. Adalwolf found himself distracted by the little guidebook. A little generic. Not enough details of the region for his taste, but still somewhat useable. In particular, it had nothing about the Pokemon of the region. A lack of information on types was going to get annoying. Reading on, there were notes about some kind of chateau that specialized in battles.

 _Hmm, it’s on the way, too. That sounds like a good idea._ Adalwolf glanced up for a moment when the sunlight turned into indoor light. It was one of the city’s exit gateways to the paths. He gave a half-assed wave to the security guards as they passed. _Let’s see, what else is there..._

Then he ran into Pyrrha’s back. Wafi huffed a quick chuckle at that. (When did he get behind her?!)

“What’s up?”

Pyrrha glanced towards him. “I, uh...” She blushed. “Sorry. I’m just... not used to seeing this.”

He looked around them. It took a moment for him to understand what she was talking about. Around them were dozens upon dozens of Pokemon. Adalwolf watched, mildly amused, as Wafi dashed ahead and started talking to many of them. 

“I’m not throwing any sticks!”

Wafi turned and whined. _“But Woooolf! You’re the best at it!”_

Adalwolf resolutely ignored him again. “So what about this is surprising?” He paused. “Not including just their appearances.”

Pyrrha absently nodded. “I just... I suppose I’m surprised at how many there are.”

He frowned. “Why is that surprising?”

“At home, there are... other creatures. Hostile ones.”

“How hostile?”

Pyrrha took a deep breath. “All of them want all of humanity dead.”

Adalwolf hissed air through his teeth. “Shit.” He looked around. “Well... I can’t promise a lack of fighting here. But it’s pretty much just for sport.”

“I see. At the very least, it is a nice change of scenery from the Grimm.”

“Grimm?”

“Creatures of Grimm. It’s what they’re called.”

“Ah.” Adalwolf finally returned to watching his Pokemon. He sighed. “Wafi...”

Pyrrha started giggling at what she saw. Wafi was playing with some of the other Pokemon, rolling around in the dirt. Adalwolf sighed again and put his face in his hand for a moment. Then he reached into his pocket, took out his phone, and started taking photos. Adalwolf made sure to take some of Pyrrha. The way she was slowly walking forward, enjoying the sights. Some of the smaller Pokemon came over and looked her over, sniffing her hand when she offered it. None of them stayed long, though. Adalwolf started heading down the trail. Wafi said bye to his new friends, and Pyrrha caught up easily enough.

“So. Grimm. Tell me more about them?”

Pyrrha paused in the road to dig into her pocket. She took out her not-phone device thing. (Adalwolf wasn’t sure what it was.) Then she pulled at the edges, making a screen appear. Then she frowned.  
  
“What’s up?”

“Well...” she paused to poke the inactive screen. “I had some images of them, from digital textbooks. But I forgot...”

“...forgot what?”

“Ocean water isn’t good for scrolls.” Adalwolf winced in sympathy. She sighed. “I’m going to have to get that replaced.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“No, but they’re not really cheap.”

“Fair enough.”

Pyrrha sighed again. “The entire time we were on the cruise, I forgot to check. Everything was so new, I just...” she heaved another sigh.

Wafi pressed into Pyrrha’s side to comfort her. Adalwolf was stuck just sort of looking around. He saw Wingull, a few Pokemon he didn’t recognize... and a good view of the plains around them. He watched as some felines napped, some Ponyta and Rapidash grazed. They were all keeping their distance, though. When Adalwolf finally glanced back, Pyrrha was thanking Wafi.

He didn’t say anything as they resumed their trek down the road.

_0123456789876543210_

Their path had split from the roadway, leading them closer to the beach as the trail narrowed down. At the moment, they were taking a break. A set of well-maintained park tables had offered a perfect place for it. The trail was nearby. A sign was pointing towards Ambrette Town, and another down toward the beach.

Pyrrha was looking around at all the Pokemon and slightly shaking her head. “I still can’t believe it...”

Adalwolf glanced up from where he was eating. “Believe what?”

“New world. Strange species everywhere... and no Grimm.”

“Ah.” Adalwolf took a few moments to finish his sandwich. “Well. I’ve heard about a lot of strange things. I’ve not seen them myself, though.”

“Such as what?”

“Uhh...” he paused to think. “There was that thing a few years ago. With that massive hurricane.”

_“Oh, I know what you’re talking about. Wasn’t that off the coast of Kanto?”_

“Yeah, I think so.”

Pyrrha seemed confused, though she did well to hide it this time. “Massive hurricane? What’s special about it?”

“Some professionals found psychic energy residue.” Adalwolf took a bite of his sandwich. And spoke through it. “Apparently some super-strong psychic-type caused the hurricane.”

Pyrrha was staring at him now. “And how big was it...?”

He shrugged. “I dunno the size. I think they said it was something like a category seven?”

“What.”

He shrugged again and took another bite. “It was years ago. I don’t remember it that well.”

Pyrrha slowly nodded. “Right... I guess... that makes sense...”

It was obvious it didn’t make sense to her. The boys didn’t press her on it; their food had their attention. The food was finished in short order, the food wrappings put into the nearby trash can. Then Wafi started racing down towards the beach. Adalwolf rolled his eyes and followed. Which left Pyrrha to hurry after them.

“Uh, shouldn’t we be heading towards... uh... the next town?”

“Yeah, but Wafi loves the beach. And swimming. Which is a bit odd considering his typing... though I suppose it’s not an _attack_ ...” Adalwolf sighed a bit. “And I wonder this thing _every_ time...”

Pyrrha was undoubtedly even more confused than ever. Wafi was already halfway to the ocean. Adalwolf placed his hand on his face. Then there was a _splash_. 

“How far did he make it this time?”

“Uh... a meter or so?”

“Right. He was probably going to ask anyway, so thanks.” Adalwolf finally took his hand off his face. “Fine. Your Feebas needs exercise and food, too, anyway.”

“W-What? O-Oh. Uh, right.”

Adalwolf walked with Pyrrha across the beach. He grimaced every time the sand slipped into his shoes. And socks. And between his toes. Pyrrha didn’t seem to be too worried about it. At least that’s what it looked like to him, anyway. She stopped on the wet sand, not far from the water. Adalwolf watched her do as she’d been taught on the cruiser.

Pyrrha held out the Pokeball just as she had back then and let it open. Adalwolf realized the issue, but was too late. Which left poor Feebas to flop around in the wet sand. Adalwolf slapped a hand over his mouth when the fish started giving Pyrrha an annoyed glare. The girl blushed and raced forward to help Feebas into the water. Wafi was a lot less reserved than Adalwolf, and was already laughing heartily.

Pyrrha trudged back over to him. “...oops.”

Adalwolf fought to keep from laughing. “It’s fine. I forgot to tell you about the throw-release. I’ll show you later.”

“Uh, right.” Pyrrha stopped talking long enough to give Feebas some food. “So... what was that about attacks?”

“Huh?” Adalwolf paused. “Oh. Has to do with Pokemon typing and all.”

“Typing?”

“It has to do with how Pokemon work. Each Pokemon has a unique ‘Type’, which are used to determine the kinds of attacks and abilities they have.” Adalwolf pointed at Feebas. The fish having finished her food, was jumping in and out of the water, splashing Wafi. Wafi was returning fire with playful splashes.

Pyrrha nodded slowly. “And they all have their respective weaknesses and strengths?”

“Correct. Wafi is a Lycanroc, a Rock type. Rock types are usually weak to water-type attacks.”

“Oh, I get it. You were talking about it earlier, when Wafi jumped into the water.”

Adalwolf nodded. He started to walk along the beach, towards their destination. Pyrrha followed, with the Pokemon doing the same shortly after. Though they continued to splash around and play. Adalwolf chuckled as they did so, with Pyrrha giggling as well.

He continued. “Your Feebas is a pure Water-type.”

“I see...” Pyrrha paused as she processed the information. Then she frowned. “Do you hear that?”

Adalwolf paused. Soon enough, he was frowning a bit too. “Yeah... sounds like someone yelling. And hitting something?”

Pyrrha nodded. “Let’s go.”

The two of them started to jog on down the beach, towards the sounds. Feebas and Wafi were following along as well, keeping pace easily. (They’d have gone faster, but wet sand quickly proved how difficult that was.) The source of the sound rapidly grew closer. Up ahead, there was a small, bipedal creature. A Pokemon. Adalwolf slowed down rapidly when they came into sight. Pyrrha nearly tripped over herself trying to stop once noticing this.

In front of them, the small bipedal Pokemon, had pink-ish baggy clothes-like material around its arms. Its head and main body were primarily an odd mixture of beige and yellow. It was repeatedly jabbing and kicking at the air, doing various flowing movements. Some of the practice swings went into a nearby log of driftwood.

Pyrrha kept glancing between Adalwolf and the Pokemon. Wafi and Feebas had resumed their playing. Then the Pokemon noticed them. It pointed at them and started barking at them.

 _“You!”_ It started waving its pointing hand. _“You dare to intrude upon my training! To interrupt these sacred acts!”_

Adalwolf sighed. Long and deeply. And placed both of his hands on his face. Pyrrha was left staring.

 _“To interrupt the Sacred Beach Training is sacrilege!”_ It continued. _“Sacrilege that will not go unpunished! And I will see to it myself, if need be!”_

Pyrrha looked to Adalwolf. “What... what’s going on?” The Pokemon continued to rant in the background.

_“...my parents and their parents and their...”_

“It’s... ugh, don’t worry about it...”

_“...interrupting training is the most shameful of...”_

“Uhh...”

 _“...and so I, Mienfoo, challenge you!”_ It paused when it noticed two Pokemon and two humans staring at it. It coughed. _“...one of you. Just one of you. For a proper one-on-one battle. First unconscious, or to surrender, loses.”_

“Pyrrha.”

She jumped. “Uh, yes?”

“This is Mienfoo. It’s challenging you to a battle. First to surrender of fall unconscious loses.”

In that instant, Adalwolf watched Pyrrha change. The entire time he’d known her, she was nervous, worried. She seemed to always watch where she was going. That might have been different in that brief (and honestly boring) fight back in the city. Adalwolf hadn’t been able to see her fighting then, though. Now? Her shoulders and back straightened. Her stance widened on the wet sand just a tad, lowering her center of gravity. She turned towards Mienfoo and raised her arms in front of her torso, in a basic upright stance. For a second, a dull-red glow enveloped her body, then faded from view.

Then she charged forward. There was a second of shock from Mienfoo. It recovered just in time to block a jab from Pyrrha and respond in kind.

Adalwolf was pretty surprised, too. “Uh. Pyrrha, that’s not... oh whatever.” He dug into his pocket and brought out his phone. He opened up the camera app and started recording.

Mienfoo was already in the air, making a slicing kick towards Pyrrha’s head. Her arm snapped up, blocking the kick with her right forearm. Dull-red flashed into view for a split second. Her other arm snapped forward in another simple jab. Mienfoo’s left hand caught it, and it’s teeth grit at the sheer force. It’s other hand started glowing. Pyrrha let go and leapt back, allowing Mienfoo to drop to the wet sand. It pursued. The glowing fist struck into Pyrrha’s waist. That dull-red glow appeared, then moved over into Mienfoo’s body. Pyrrha gasped and kicked Mienfoo away from her. 

She dashed back in, going in low for a grab. Mienfoo jumped, naturally. So Pyrrha planted her hands down, let her weight swing forward into a semblance of a hand-stand, and kicked Mienfoo in the stomach. It grunted and landed in the sand harshly. Pyrrha was left to land on her side in the wet sand; her weight and movement had undone the surface of her impromptu handstand almost instantly.

She scrambled to her feet; Mienfoo was already charging towards her. It’s left fist was already cocked back. Pyrrha was only barely able to get to her knees when the strike landed in her stomach. That dull-red glow appeared again, dimming significantly this time. In return, however, Pyrrha grabbed Mienfoo’s extended forearm. Her right hand lashed out and wrapped around the Pokemon’s shoulder joint.

With an almighty heave, Pyrrha lifted Mienfoo overhead, and slammed it down into the wet sand. Mienfoo cried out. Pyrrha grunted when her back hit the sand again. 

For a very brief moment, all was still.

 _“Heh...”_ Mienfoo chuckled. _“Heh... ha ha. I give.”_

Adalwolf’s eyebrow rose. “You give?”

_“Yeah. I give.”_

“Alright then.” Adalwolf came over and offered Pyrrha a hand. She gratefully accepted. “Nice fight.”

“Ah, uh... thank you.”

He smirked. “Though... that wasn’t quite right.”

“Uh... what do you mean?”

“It’s not what Mienfoo meant by ‘battle’. It meant for Feebas to be the one to do the fighting.”

“...oh.” Pyrrha blushed a bit. “I, uh... I see.”

Mienfoo stepped between them. _“...is she going to capture me or not?”_

“You want to be?”

_“Isn’t that what you trainers do when you win?”_

Adalwolf shrugged. “Usually.”

Pyrrha finally spoke up. “...you can understand that?”

“Oh right. I was going to ask about that. Do you know what aura is?”

Pyrrha blinked. Then she frowned a bit. “You have aura in this world?”

Adalwolf heaved a hefty sigh of relief. “Oh thank Tapu. It can be such a pain in the ass to explain.” He straightened. “So, I saw you using some aura in that battle.”

“I was, yes. Is that an issue?”

Mienfoo put its hands on its hips. _“Hey, hold on! Is she catching me or not?!”_

“Oh right, that first I guess. Mienfoo wants to know if you’re going to capture it.”

“Uh... what’s that involve?”

“You know that ball that was holding Feebas? There are a bunch of empty ones in your bag. Take one out, expand it, and tap the button on Mienfoo.”

“Okay... and Mienfoo agreed to this, right?”

Mienfoo nodded firmly. Pyrrha took a deep breath and did as Adalwolf said to do. She stared, in a mixture of confusion and awe and wonder, as the ball shook in her hand. After a moment, it gave a soft _ding_.

“So... why are Pokemon caught in these, anyway?” Pyrrha blushed at Adalwolf’s expression. “I just thought of it...”

“Well... you are still adjusting, I guess.” He shrugged. “I don’t know really know why Pokemon are caught in Pokeballs. I just know it’s been done for a long time. If the Pokemon really objected, it’s not hard for them to escape one.”

“I see...” Pyrrha stared down at the red-and-white ball in her hand. Then she tossed it up and let Mienfoo out. “Well. I see no reason for, uh... him?” Mienfoo nodded. “For him to not be able to walk with us.”

Adalwolf shrugged. “Up to you. Hey did you ever think of a nickname for Feebas?”

“No, not yet.” 

“Well take your time. Took us like seven weeks to decide on Wafi’s.”

_“That’s because you suck at names.”_

Adalwolf immediately turned and kicked some sand at Wafi. Wafi yelped and started pawing at his face. Adalwolf resumed walking down the beach, back towards the actual walking path. There was another trail back up to it from the beach.

“So you have aura and combat training, then? To fight those... Grimm?”

Pyrrha had to jog to catch up. “Yes. We learn to use our weapons and aura together to fight.”

“Weapons? We didn’t find any on you, though.”

“Yes, mine was... destroyed in my last fight. Before my arrival.”

“Ah. I see.” Adalwolf paused at the cliffside trail. “You should probably recall Feebas.”

Pyrrha glanced back at how Feebas was glaring at her from the water, winced, then started heading over. While she dashed back to do that, Wafi came up to him. Adalwolf knelt down and started to wipe away the rest of the sand. Wafi waited patiently as he did.

“Sorry about that, buddy. Didn’t really expect to get it in your eyes like that.”

Wafi chuckled. _“It’s alright, no lasting damage. You did a damn good job picking my name, by the way.”_

“Damn straight I did.” He did one last check, then stood up straight. “...took you seven months to like it, though.”

 _“Have you heard this name? It sounds damn stupid!”_ Wafi shoved Adalwolf, making the boy stumble and grunt. _“But... the meaning of it grew on me.”_

Adalwolf chuckled. “Yeah. I learned that when I finally heard you.”

_“Yeah. That took forever.”_

“It kind of did.”

Pyrrha finally came back. She looked somewhat sheepish. And her shirt was kind of wet. “Feebas, uh... wasn’t happy. I um, promised a good swim later?”

“Well, that seems fair.” Adalwolf reached into his pocket and brought out the map. He opened it enough for them both to see the surrounding area. “Hmm... there’s a lake we can camp near tonight. It’ll take us a while to get there though.”

Pyrrha looked it over herself. “By tonight you think?”

He took a few moments to measure it out with his thumb and fingers and the scale. “No, not that late. I think.”

She nodded as he put away the map. Looking ahead, at the admittedly beautiful landscape, Pyrrha let out a deep sigh. She’d once imagined doing this kind of thing with Jaune, when the time came for it with training missions. And Ren and Nora, of course. 

Well... until she found a way back home, assuming there was one at all, it seemed all she could do now was try and enjoy her time here. See what she could learn.

And maybe learn about why she was here in the first place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I actually finished this a few weeks ago. Posted it on SpaceBattles and everything.
> 
> Forgot about here, lol.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Final Count:  
> Pages: 13. Words: 4,004


End file.
